By Leslie Truex Updated October 04, 2016 Authority and credibility are crucial to gaining attention, respect, and clients for ...
By Leslie
Truex
Updated
October 04, 2016
Authority
and credibility are crucial to gaining attention, respect, and
clients for your home business. But as a beginning home-based
entrepreneur, you might question why others would want to listen to
and hire you. Even if you believe you’re an expert in your field,
you might feel inadequate in other aspects of building and promoting
a home business. Here are 7 tips to building your expertise, and
becoming an authority in your niche.
1) Research your niche
In
reality, you don’t have to know everything to be an expert. You
simply need to know more than most people. That’s why people come
to experts: To learn more about something. In researching your
niche, learn its history and evolution. Find out about the top
experts, past and present. Study the differing prevailing theories
or systems used in your niche.
Places
to learn about your niche include books, blogs, classes, seminars,
and research documents. Visit associations related to your niche
online to stay on top of current news and trends.
Once
you have a basic knowledge of your niche, make sure you continue to
learn, with special emphasis on discovering what’s new. You don’t
become an expert once you’ve gained some knowledge. Experts
continue to study and keep abreast of what’s new in their niche.
2) Get involved in your niche
Book
smarts are all well and good, but experience counts for as much, if
not more when becoming an expert.
You
should be active in your niche. If you want to be perceived as an
expert blogger, you need to be blogging. If you want to be an Etsy
expert, you should be creating items and selling them on Etsy.
Other
ways to become active in your niche include joining groups and
associations related to your niche.
Not
only does this help you stay knowledgeable and involved, but it also
offers great opportunities for networking.
3) Focus on value, not on how great you are
No
one likes conceit or arrogance. Acting like a self-important
know-it-all is a sure way to turn off potential allies and clients
(even if you, in fact, know it all).
Genuine
experts don’t need to brag or show off. They exude their expert
status by being helpful, eager to use their knowledge to improve the
lives of others.
4) Create a home for your expertise
When
people go looking for an expert, they not only want to find a person
that can help them -- they also want a way to easily learn about
this person. Today, you can be listed on hundreds of directories,
social networks, and other websites, and while that’s helpful, you
should have a single place -- a hub -- that potential clients can
visit to get all the information they need about you. A website is
the best place to host your hub. While sites like LinkedIn are
valuable, you don’t have a much control or customization as you do
with your own site.
Your
website should be informative and engaging. Avoid boring About Me
pages, and instead focus on creating a site that showcases what you
know and do can help others. What does it mean for potential clients
that you belong to industry associations or have earned an award?
While
you don’t want to appear arrogant, don’t be afraid to toot your
horn either. Share the details that make you an expert (e.g.,
education, certifications, awards), but also share
third-party testimonials,
endorsements, reviews, and media appearances, as these carry more
clout than your saying how great you are.
Your
site is also a place to show off your expertise in your niche with
articles, podcasts or videos.
5) Connect with other experts
Many
would-be experts avoid others in their niche because they think it
will hurt them to get involved with the competition. The trick to
successful relationships with other experts is to focus on value:
How can you help them?
There
are many ways to connect with experts including social media,
interacting with them at association and other functions (online and
off), and offering your assistance.
6) Share your expertise
One
of the fastest ways to gain attention and expert status is by
sharing what you know with others. Writing guest
blog posts or articles that
highlight your expertise not only drives traffic to your business,
but also builds your credibility. Another way to share your
expertise is to become a trusted resource of support and information
in groups, online and off. Pitch an interview topic in your
niche to podcasts or radio shows. Host a webinar or do a seminar at
your local Chamber of Commerce or adult education center. Anything
you can do to share your expertise and get your name out there is a
good thing.
7) Engage the media
Similar
to sharing your expertise, free publicity is an effective way to
increase your reach and credibility with your market. While
sending press
releases can
work, you can increase your chances of appearing on a variety of
media by using publicity resources such as Help
A Reporter Out and Reporter
Connection.
These tools offer free and fee-based services that help media
outlets connect with experts for their articles, blog posts, radio
and podcast shows, and more.
COMMENTS